The Pride Season in Northern Ireland finished with the Foyle Pride Parade on August 25th and Pride in Newry on September 1st. Cara-Friend attended both, taking part in both parades with record numbers of LGBTQ+ young people, along with other organisations and sector partners.

Foyle Pride was celebrating its 25th anniversary, the first Pride having been celebrated in Derry-Londonderry in 1993. This year’s parade followed the original route of the 1968 civil rights march (as this is the 50th anniversary year) in order to frame the LGBTQ+ outstanding rights issues in the context of the NI civil rights movement of the 1960s and 70s. LGBTQ+ young people from Cara-Friend LGBT Youth, OUT North West, GenderJam, Youth Action, and the Education Authority all marched together in a huge LGBTQ+ youth bloc which led out the parade, behind the bloc of civil rights campaigners from both the original 1968 march and the 1993 first Pride. Foyle Pride 2018 was certainly a week to remember!

The Pride season was finished off in style with the usual show of colour and joy in Newry. The Parade took place on September 1st and Cara-Friend marched alongside sector partners from The Rainbow Project and Here NI. Members of Cara-Friend LGBT Youth Newry were also present!

After a successful Pride season in Belfast, Derry-Londonderry and Newry – as well as smaller civic events in Craigavon and Coleraine for the first time – we are prouder than ever! We look forward to seeing everyone next year for what promises to be even bigger and better!